I used to be crazy about the Beatles before I got into classical music. They were by far my favorite band and I listened to them daily. Now I still like their music but I only listen to them maybe once or twice a year. I seem to be almost always in the mood for something else.
Yes, they were great. I was a young teenager when the Beatles came on the scene, and their music was like a breath of fresh air after listening for years to stuff like the Beach Boys etc.
I agree they were great. I'm not sure they were "good." I don't like to listen to them because their voices didn't match very well, and John's voice makes me tired. I think the best versions of their music were done by other artists doing their songs as a cover. Having said that, I do like the way the bass was played, whether it was Paul on the recordings or some nameless studio guy.
I suppose there could be some definitions of great that would not apply to them, but all the normal ones apply. I wonder how many who actually grew up listening to them would say they weren't great?
You have inspired me to revisit them. I'm listening to the remastered Abbey Road on Spotify with headphones. It sounds a lot better now than it did on my old stereo. I can hear the influence it had on prog friend's music.
I guess after all these years, it's time for me to do a re-evaluation.
The Fab Four were great blokes as well. They were so young to be dealing with a ridiculous amount of fame, fortune, adulation, and pressure, but they seemed to remain grounded as individuals, and they had a great sense of humour.
Actually I've read many times comments of persons saying that John Lennon was a horrible (and quite violent) person. I've never read a lot about it, so I haven't a personal idea, but to me it's more strange to read your comment because it seems that the majority of people have very a different idea.
Anyway: in the context of rock music they were good songwriters (and I really like certain songs they wrote), but I'd definitely would not spend the label genius for any of them.
A wonderful group. Their rapid musical evolution was amazing to experience at the time, triggered to a certain extent by their contact with Bob Dylan. I especially enjoy their psychedelic, druggy, dreamy songs. Plus their overall breadth of output--most other groups at the time were working one particular musical seam--the Stones spring to mind, Beach Boys......
I don't know if I would call them great. They were good. Certainly left a huge mark on the music. I suppose a lot of it has to do with experiencing them when they were new and fresh. But coming along later, you have to look at it more from an academic perspective, because in the modern context they aren't as impressive.
What is the test of time? Nowadays everything is archived; everything is accessable. Millions still listen to Doo-Wop, to Elvis, to John Lee Hooker. I like to hear a good Four Aces song now and then: Perfidia, Heart and Soul, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing. Musically, Everything is Now Now!
I don't think anything any of them did after the Beatles ever rivaled what they did as the Beatles, so I don't know that they would have still written music in this day and age. All I do know is that they were a musical phenomenon of their particular time, and that isn't to be diminished. But they are not a band of any other decade. You can speculate that they would have written stuff in this era that would have been equally ground-shaking, but I am judging them on the music they did write, not what I think they might have written.
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